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Keely Baker, a Great Falls native, will open up a Studio Barre workout studio in the World Wide Press building at 112 3rd St. S. Studio Barre is a franchise that uses a ballet barre for workouts that incorporate elements of yoga, pilates and isometric training in the workouts.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)Buy Photo

Baker is the type of person you can trust with your athletic training. She knows a thing or two about staying in shape. After graduating from CMR in 2010, she headed off to MSU where she was a star track and cross-country athlete for the Bobcats for five years. Since she graduated, Baker has competed in an Iron Man triathlon, won the Governor's Cup twice, won the Missoula Marathon last month and has competed in three other marathons.

Baker started taking barre classes in Bozeman seven years ago and says she was instantly hooked. She started teaching her own barre classes two years later.

"I'm a super avid runner, and in college I was getting injury after injury from overuse and was super frustrated with it," Baker said. "My friend convinced me to go to a barre class with her, and I had just had a knee surgery, so I couldn't do anything, and she told me I could do barre because it's low-impact and wouldn't hurt my knee."

After her first class, she was hooked. Baker said, despite being an athlete, the classes challenged her and helped her build muscle groups she didn't typically train. After college, she threw herself into it and started taking and teaching as many classes as she had time for.

"I have not had an injury since, and I'm running twice as much as I ever did in college, I'm running faster than I ever did in college," Baker said. "It's barre. It really is."

Baker moved back to Great Falls after school and started teaching second grade at West Elementary. Never one to take it easy, she also started teaching barre classes at Anchor Fitness and pilates at the Peak.

She says she kept herself busy, but she couldn't shake the idea of someday opening her own barre studio.

"When I first started doing barre seven years ago in Bozeman, my first thought was, 'I wish someone would do that in Great Falls,'" Baker said. "A few years down the road, I thought it'd be so cool if I could do that, and I just kept talking about it and it was always a dream in the back of my head. Finally about a year ago, my husband (Casey Baker) was like 'You're still talking about this. It's still important to you.' He was the one who said if I don't do something about, it I'd regret it."

So she decided to take the plunge.

Bringing barre to Great Falls

Baker said she reached out to Studio Barre thanks to the suggestion from a friend who owns one of its franchises in Bozeman. She knew it was the right match almost instantly.

In June, Baker and her mom/business partner/best friend Sheree West flew to the Studio Barre headquarters in San Diego to meet the team and learn about the business.

"When I came back, I was positive that's what I wanted to do," Baker said. "Everyone there was so happy and loved their job, and I left there being like that's what I want. I want to be happy, and I want to be super-excited and have that atmosphere they have in their studios and bring it here. I hadn't experienced that kind of community in any other barre studio. You feel like a family with them."

Studio Barre is a small franchise. Baker's studio will be the company's 18th location.

With the franchise locked in, Baker needed a location. She said she searched around Great falls for a while but couldn't find a spot she was in love with. Then, while she was at dinner at Bert and Ernie's one night, Baker spotted a 'For Lease' sign in the window of the old World Wide Press building.

"One of the things I wanted was to be downtown," Baker said. "That was really important to me because I can see where downtown Great Falls is going, and I want to be a part of that community."

She and her husband pressed their faces to the windows of the vacant building and knew they had found the spot for Studio Barre. Baker was in love with the space's high ceilings and old Great Falls character.

Baker was born and raised in Great Falls and has a special place in her heart for this community. She said part of fulfilling her dream included being part of the downtown revitalization efforts.

"I look at Great Falls even from just five years ago and downtown is a whole new community," Baker said. "It's gotten a whole new life down here, and there's a lot of people who really want downtown to improve, and you can see the product of their hard work."

When Baker officially announced that she would be opening her own Studio Barre location downtown, she said the Downtown Great Falls Association was quick to reach out to her to offer grant opportunities and support.

"In most towns, you have to reach out and find those people, whereas here they are actively seeking ways to improve downtown, and it's really cool to have all of that support down here," Baker said.

Working out

Work is already underway to get the World Wide Press building ready for Baker's studio. The space will eventually be painted in complementing gray and yellow tones with hardwood floors in the studio and a fitness apparel boutique in the next room.

Baker's husband, co-owner of Craftmaster Cabinets, will be there to help with some of the installation.

"He's been my number one fan in all of this," Baker said.

Baker and her mother have already hired five instructors to help teach barre classes at the studio. The instructors are heading down to San Diego next week to get intensive Studio Barre training at headquarters.

Barre fitness is a group class, but Baker said her instructors will make it feel like a private training experience with modifications, corrections and support.

No matter your fitness level, Baker insists barre can be for you.

"The biggest thing is that it really is a class for so many ages," Baker said. "I know people in their 60s who take the class because it's such a low impact class that they can do everything and keep strong in areas that commonly get weak in people...It's amazing how people, after only a month or two can see a change."

Studio Barre will have between six and eight 60-minute classes a day and an additional 45-minute lunch hour class for people who work during the day.

Barre is ideal for people looking to strengthen and tone their muscles or lose weight, Baker continued. Each class is challenging and keeps people's heart rates up while they work out to energizing music. However, it does so without getting them to the point where they're out of breath or struggling to finish and exercise.

"You leave those classes with a smile on your face," Baker said. 'I can't describe it. It's just a feeling you don't get anywhere else."